BizKnowledge Watch

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Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC) heads the 2010 ranking of the “World’s 50 Safest Banks” published by US-based magazine Global Finance. Among the Spanish banks featured, Banco Santander dropped one position to 14th place, BBVA ranked 21st, Banesto climbed one rung to 24th and La Caixa moved up slightly, to 28th position.

The list was selected through a comparison of the long-term credit ratings and total assets of the world’s 500 largest banks.

The complete rankings are available at the Global Finance website.

(CC) Todd Ehlers/Flickr

KfW (Germany) is the world’s safest bank, according to Global Finance magazine’s latest rankings of the world’s 50 safest banks. Spanish banking group Banco Santander ranked among the top 15.

After two tumultuous years that have seen many of the world’s most respected banks drop out of the top-50 safest banks list, the dust finally appears to be settling. Those banks that kept an iron grip on their risk exposure before the onset of the financial crisis have consistently topped the table and maintain their standing among the top echelon in this year’s ranking. At the same time, the big name banks that lost their safest bank ranking during the credit crunch are still absent from the list as they struggle to rebuild their credit standing.

The ‘World’s 50 Safest Banks’ 2009 were selected through a comparison of the long-term credit ratings and total assets of the world’s 500 largest banks.

You can view the complete ranking here.